Thanksgiving and Stories

Thanksgiving is the BEST holiday for stories! Friends and family gather around a table and raise a glass, eat turkey, and enjoy the feast. Someone will say something like, “Do you remember when…?” or “When I was little…” Then another person will say, “Last Thanksgiving, we all were…”

Then someone drops the cranberry sauce on the floor and someone announces, “Well, that’ll be a story for next year!” (and it will be!).

Thanksgiving is a celebration of abundance, family, friends, and recognition of the past year: the good, the challenges, the sadness, and the hope for the year to come.

This year my family is a bit ‘up in the air’ about Thanksgiving. We are not sure exactly where we will be, but we know we will be with family (I’ll explain more about that next week.). Wherever we are, we will be celebrating and adding to our family stories. We will rejoice, we will cry, we will remember those who have left this earth, we will cuddle and love the new little ones that have joined our crazy, amazing, annoying, weird, fun filled, dysfunctional, normal (is normal a real thing?) loving and caring clan.

As you celebrate your Thanksgiving with family, friends, neighbors, and even people you don’t like, may I wish you happy stories, joyous memories, and good thoughts for the coming year.

May I also add, YOU are an important part of the story.

Lona

A Happy Celebration

Bryon and Amber got married on Friday. What a lovely California day it was!

The bride was beautiful in a  simple line but oh so elegant gown. The groom was handsome and smiling in a suit and tie. Friends of the bride’s family hosted the wedding at their lovely home. In the front yard, the two took their vows to one another and in the backyard, they celebrated with friends and family. 

Bryon grew up in a family that celebrates with donuts (preference is Dunkin Donuts); in keeping with that tradition he and Amber cut the cake then invited friends and family to get a donut from the donut wall (yes, from Dunkin as is proper)!

It was a sweet, adorable day, one that suited the bride and groom perfectly.

Keep A-Goin'!

Steven and I were in a fairly harsh car accident the last day of August of this year.  I was injured and have had to take some time to recover. The bruises have faded, the pain has greatly lessened, PT is underway, we purchased another van and I am back on the road performing.  

We all have setbacks in our lives and it can be hard. So many times when challenging things happen in my life I refer back to poems. My father loved poetry and recited it often. I like include a poem here and there in my performances, and I’ve even written some of my own that I include.

Just in case you’re a facing some challenges too, here is one of the poems my father loved to help you keep a-goin!!

Remember, in the challenge there is a new story to share.

“Ef you strike a thorn or rose, Keep a-goin’!
Ef it hails or ef it snows, Keep a-goin’!

‘Taint no use to sit an’ whine,
When the fish ain’t on yer line,
Bait yer hook an’ keep a-tryin’ – Keep a-goin’!

When the weather kills yer crop, Keep a-goin’!
Though ‘tis work to reach the top – Keep a-goin’!

S’pose you’re out of every dime,
Bein’ so ain’t any crime;
Tell the world you’re feelin’ prime – Keep a-goin’!

When it looks like all is up, Keep a-goin’!
Drain the sweetness from the cup – Keep a-goin’!

See the wild birds on the wing,
Hear the bells that sweetly ring,
When you feel like surgin’ sing – Keep a-goin’!”

— "Keep A-Goin'! by Frank L. Stanton

It's a Girl!

Our daughter Genette is 24 weeks pregnant and the nickname of the baby is Little Foot. (Remember that movie, The Land before Time? One of the dinosaurs in that movie was named Little Foot).  She and her husband decided to do a gender reveal party with a dinosaur theme, of course. At the ultrasound when the gender of Little Foot was discovered, they had the technician write it down and seal it in an envelope. Genette and Abe had no idea if the baby was a boy or a girl. Genette gave the envelope to her very good friend, Alyssa, and she planned the “reveal” for the party.

I have to hand it to them for having patience; they waited a week and a half after the ultrasound to get the news and Alyssa waited that week and a half keeping the secret from Genette and Abe! I’m not sure I would have able to be so patient.

At the gender reveal party, Alyssa put colored sand in two red glass bottles to keep the colors a secret. At the appointed moment, Genette and Abe poured the sand into a clear glass cube which revealed the gender of Little Foot: pink and purple for a girl or blue and red for a boy. We all counted down, “One, two, three!” and the sand flowed pink and purple.

A GIRL!! Our family is having a girl!! How exciting!

Little Foot’s story has a great beginning. I look forward to being able to tell her about the excitement we felt when we found out that she was coming into our lives.  I’m going to write it down, too, so when she is older, Little Foot will be able to read about how very much she is loved. 

I encourage you to write down your stories too and share them with the little ones in your life.

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Good Year

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The past couple of years have been very challenging and frankly, scary for this Bartlett family; things are never boring at our house. The situations we have faced have challenged us emotionally, spiritually, physically, financially… ok, in every way possible. But it all seems to be turning out ok.

Steven and I are on the way to Lynchburg, VA to our daughter Genette and bonus son Abe's house. As we were driving along Steven got my attention by saying, "blimp!" I looked up and there was the Good Year blimp resting in the sky.

Seeing the blimp served as an encouraging reminder – through it all it has been a good year. Bryon is in remission and will be marrying the adorable Amber in November, Carmen continues on life adventures, and Steven, Abe, and I have all recovered well from our surgeries, Steven also has some leads on a new job, Genette is pregnant, and we are on the way to Lynchburg to attend the gender reveal party for our first grandchild due to arrive at the end of November.

Yep, that's our story and we are sticking to it – it's been a Good Year.